Clarion

CLARION 13

the narrow ladder. A moment later he disappeared through the dark opening that led to the service area above the ceiling. Paul lifted the goggles again. The bearded man seemed unaware of the two

security men who stood in the darkened aisle a few rows behind him. As Paul watched, Hanes emerged from a side door and went down the aisle to stand with his men.

Paul had begun to lower the goggles when he saw something that made him look again. The bearded man had leaned forward in his seat, eyes widening into an intense stare. Puzzled, Paul turned to follow the man's line of vision. He scanned the area near the stage and saw nothing that looked out of place. He turned the goggles back to the balcony and hit the stud to enlarge the image. The man was definitely reacting to something he had seen near the stage. Now Paul saw that he was not staring directly at the stage, but slightly to the side.

Again Paul followed the man's line of sight. He moved the goggles slowly across each of the first few rows; then something caught his attention and he brought them back for a second look. A thin, balding man in a dark suit sat in an aisle seat of the front row. The goggles had passed over him before, but now Paul realized that the man was not watching Doriand. He had instead turned to look down the aisle at one ofHanes's security guards, who was stationed near the exit door. As the thin man turned back to the stage, Paul saw that something was clasped in his hands. Paul touched the zoom control again and leaned forward closer to the glass wall for a better angle of view.

The object in the man's hands was a gun.

Paul felt a surge of adrenaline, and his eyes jerked back to the stage. The beat of the music had been replaced with a light melody. Dorland's face was tilted up, patterned by changing light and shadow. He was drawing close to the moment when 14

William Greenleaf

sudden darkness would fall and the white beam from the overhead spotlight would hit him.

Sweat trickled inside the collar of Paul's shirt. The security guard stationed at the exit near the stage was watching Dorland, and it was clear he hadn't noticed the man in the front row. Paul swiveled back to look at Jeffrey Hanes and the other security men. Even if he could somehow get their attention, they would never be able to reach the front row of the auditorium in time.

Paul rose from his chair, his mind churning with indecision. Then he ducked through the opening to the platform, grasped the ladder rails and went up as fast as he could through the ceiling access port. His heart pounded as he forced himself to wait a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. Service catwalks with safety rails led out across the suspended ceiling. He selected one that angled in the right direction and ran along it to an exit point that he judged to be close to the stage. He dropped down the ladder to a service corridor and followed that to a door that opened into the auditorium. The security man at the stage door was Steph Hendrikson. Paul yelled as he ran past, but didn't wait to see if Hendrikson comprehended. He

rushed down the darkened aisle with no specific plan in mind, stumbling over feet yet somehow keeping his balance, ignoring the confused murmur that grew behind him. He risked a glance at the stage as the music crashed and broke into another light melody. Colors blossomed, washing away the shadows as they brightened to dazzling shades of yellow. Dorland stood rigid, arms stretched toward the ceiling. The music faded and a deep hum began to build from the speakers. The man in the front row lifted his hand and Paul saw the reflected gleam of metal.

"No!" he yelled, still running.

The man began to turn an instant before Paul hit